Niederrheinstadion, Stadion Niederrhein is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches and is the home stadium of

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

. The stadium currently has a capacity of 21,318 spectators (4,039 seats).

History

The stadium was officially opened on February 28, 1926, with a match between Duisburger SV and

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

. At that time, it was called "Städtisches Stadion am Gräfenbusch", before being renamed to Stadion Niederrhein three years later, a name which has not been changed since. From the year 1970 on, the at the time brightest floodlights in a European stadium provided enough light to allow color television broadcasts for the first time. 1982, tartan tracks were added, and in the year 1996 the old scoreboard from the Ulrich Haberland Stadion in

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is on ...

was installed, a gift from

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

to the city of Oberhausen. In the two following years, the standing and the main terrace were renovated. The construction works were finished in 1998 and the stadium was reopened in time for the new season of the 2. Bundesliga. With Rot-Weiß Oberhausen being promoted to 2. Bundesliga in 2008, again renovations were needed to meet the requirements from the DFL. As part of this, the turf was replaced completely and undersoil heating was installed. At the beginning of the year 2017, works to replace parts of the old standing area began. The new standing terraces were opened in 2018.

Other uses

The stadium was one of the four grounds of the

2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 14th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Germany between 27 May and 8 June 2004. Italy U-21s won the competition for the fifth time. Italy's Al ...

. Three group stage matches, one semi-final and the match for third place took place in Oberhausen. At the

INAS World Football Championships The INAS World Football Championship is an international association football competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities. It takes place every four years, typically in the country that also hosts the FIFA World Cup. It is organized by ...

2006 for athletes with intellectual disabilities two years later, the match between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

(1:3) was hosted in the Stadion Niederrhein. In the 2009/10 season of the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

, the women's football club

FCR 2001 Duisburg FCR 2001 Duisburg (full name: ''Fußballclub Rumeln 2001 Duisburg'') was a German women's football club from Duisburg. The first team played in the Bundesliga (women), Bundesliga. They originate from a women's team formed in 1977 under the umbrel ...

held two of their home matches in Oberhausen, because the floodlights in the

PCC-Stadion The PCC-Stadion is a football stadium in Homberg (Duisburg), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home ground of the women's Bundesliga side MSV Duisburg—continuing the tradition of the FCR 2001 Duisburg—and men's fourth division side Vf ...

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

did not satisfy the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

requirements.

Records

In 1950, the record attendance of around 45,000 spectators was achieved when

Preußen Dellbrück Preußen or Preussen is the German word for Prussia. It also refers to: Ships * ''Preußen'' (ship), windjammer built in 1902 * SMS ''Preußen'' (1873), armored frigate * SMS ''Preußen'' (1903), pre-dreadnought Battleship * , vorpostenboot ...

and

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

met in the semi-final for the German championship. The match ended with a 3:0 win for Offenbach.

Transport

Stadion Niederrhein can be reached by bus. There is a number of stations in the surrounding area, with the closest to the stadium being "Schloss Oberhausen" on line 122. On matchdays, additional direct busses to transport fans from the train stations Oberhausen, Sterkrade, and Osterfeld to the stadium are provided.

References

External links

Venue information
{{commons category, Stadion Niederrhein Football venues in Germany Athletics (track and field) venues in Germany Multi-purpose stadiums in Germany Buildings and structures in Oberhausen Sports venues in North Rhine-Westphalia Rot-Weiß Oberhausen